Ferris State University’s Information Security and Intelligence
program can add the title “Center of Excellence” to its credentials.

The
ISI program’s courseware was certified by the National Information
Assurance Education and Training Program of the National Security Agency
after Ferris successfully mapped to meet all six national standards as
established by the Committee on National Security Systems. As a result,
the university was notified this spring that its ISI program officially
earned certification as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information
Assurance.

Greg Gogolin, an ISI professor in Ferris’ College of
Business, emphasized that the significance of this certification of the
university’s program, which first established an ISI Bachelor of Science
degree and enrolled students in 2007, cannot be understated.

“The
National Security Agency is the premier security authority in the
world,” he said. “For Ferris to receive designation as a Center of
Academic Excellence is a necessary requirement to qualify for grants and
scholarships.”

The scholarship opportunities, as noted by Gogolin, are part of this national certification.

“Students
can apply for up to $12,000 in scholarships from the NSA through
Ferris,” he said. “It also provides a benchmark as to the level of
quality of education we’re providing here at Ferris.”

Gogolin,
Ferris’ 2010-11 Distinguished Teacher Award recipient, credited the work
of fellow ISI faculty member Barbara Ciaramitaro for her leadership
throughout the detailed process to attain the certification which he
described as the program’s “No. 1 goal.”

Ciaramitaro credited
fellow ISI faculty members Doug Blakemore, Jim Jones and Gogolin for
their work as part of a collaborative effort. She also noted that the
development of courses by Blakemore, Gogolin and Jones was critical to
her mapping work which is comprised of submitting courseware information
for evaluation.

Ferris’ recognition as a NSA Center of Academic
Excellence in Information Assurance puts the university in a national
group of institutions that includes Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins and
Georgetown University.

The courses and hands-on technology tools
in Ferris’ ISI program were developed in large part to address one of
the most significant challenges the United States currently faces: cyber
security threats. Gogolin noted that Ferris’ ISI program was “rated as
the strongest university information security program in Michigan” and
that it was recognized by the Gartner Group, an information technology
research and advisory company, as “one of the top 10 information
security programs in the country.”

Ferris is one of just eight
universities in the U.S. to have achieved certification against all six
NSA CNSS standards. The mapping program was established to expand and
strengthen the use of national standards of information assurance
education and training, according to the NSA website.

“This is the highest certification in the security field that we can attain,” Gogolin
said.

Students
who major in ISI at Ferris take classes that focus on computer
forensics, risk analysis, fraud and data mining, as well as general
College of Business classes such as Accounting and Public Relations. ISI
majors specialize in one of three areas: Digital Forensics, National
Security and Intelligence (Global Information Systems and Data Mining).
Students also can develop custom concentrations that suit their
interests.

Classes for Ferris’ ISI program are offered at
locations in Big Rapids, Grand Rapids, Traverse City and the Saginaw
area through partnerships with institutions such as Delta Community
College, Grand Rapids Community College and Northwestern Michigan
College.